At heart, I’m a powerlifter and I love the feeling of holding a ton of weight in my hands. But I don’t do the traditional deadlift anymore. For me, pulling off the ground is just too risky.

Instead, I do another favorite exercise: rack deadlifts. To perform rack deadlifts, set the safety bars in a power rack just below knee height. With your back straight, pull the weight until you’re in a standing position with your hips in line with your shoulders. Then carefully lower to the start position, bringing the weight to a dead stop. Don’t throw the weight down and bounce back up—if you’re doing that, you’re taking the tension off the back muscles.